OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of somatostatin(SST)on expression of NO,TNF? and 5-lipoxygenase(5-LO)in primary cultured rat Kupffer cells induced by LPS.METHODS Kupffer cells isolated from Sprague-Dawley rats were cultured in the presence of LPS added alone or with SST for 12,24 and 48 h,and the production of TNF? was assessed in culture supernatants by ELISA and that of nitric oxide(NO)by nitrate reductase method.5-LO mRNA expression was assessed by semiquantitative RT-PCR.RESULTS Vehicle-stimulated Kupffer cells produced a basal amount of NO,TNF? and expressed 5-LO mRNA.Kupffer cells stimulated by LPS secreted significantly increased amounts of NO and TNF?(P0.05).CONCLUSIONS SST modulates NO,TNF? production and 5-LO mRNA expression by LPS-stlimulated Kupffer cells.

Objective To test the level of follicular helper T cells (Tfh) and interleukin (IL)-21,CXCL13 in the peripheral blood of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS),and to analyze the relationship between Tfh and clinic features and explore the possible immunological pathogenesis of AS.Methods The Tfh cells were obtained from patients and normal controls and detected by flow cytometry.While the levels of IL-21,CXCL13 in patients and normal controls were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests.Data analysis were performed by Student's t-test,Rank-sum test,Spearman's correlation test.Results The expression of CD4+CXCR5 qCOS + cells (Tfh) (mean rank 33.71) and IL-21 [(299±27) ng/L],CXCL13 [(5.8±1.0) μg/L] in the peripheral blood of AS was significantly higher than normal controls [mean rank 23.54,(176±26) ng/L,(4.2±0.8) μg/L] (Z=-2.258,t=17.221,t=6.464,all P＜0.05).It was similar in AS with peripheral joint involvement compared with AS of non-peripheral joint involvement,and there was no difference between AS patients with positive HLA-B27 and those without HLA-B27.Mean -while,no correlation was found between the expression of Tfh,IL-21,CXCL13 and level of ESR,CRP,BASDAI.And there was no significant correlation between the expression of Tfh and IL-21,CXCL13 (P＞0.05).Conclusion The expression of Tfh and the levels of IL-21,CXCL13 are increased significantly,but are not closely relatedto disease activity.These results indicate that the abnormality of Tfh may play an important role in the pathogenesis of AS.

Background Our previous study showed that the expression level of glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) increases in astrocytes and Müller cells of retina in chronic hypertensive eye,and this change was clarified to be associated with the damage process of the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs).Aquaporin 4 (AQP4) exists in neural glial cells,so we conjecture AQP4 plays a role in the regulating GFAP expression in glaucomatous eye.Objectives This study was to investigate whether AQP4 gene can regulate the expression of GFAP in retina and explore the effect of AQP4 on RGCs damage of glaucoma.Methods Chronic ocular hypertensive eye models were established by cauterizing the scleral venous in the left eyes of 30 male AQP4-/-mice and 30 male wild type (WT) mice with the same background,and the right eyes served as control eyes.The intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured with Icare rebound tonometer at 1 day,3,7,14 and 28 days respectively and the retinas were isolated from 6 of each types of mice at the corresponding time points.The expression of GFAP in the retina was detected by Western blot.The use and care of the experimental animals followed ARVO Statement.Results The IOP was significantly higher in the model eyes than that of the control eyes 1 day,3,7,14 and 28 days in both AQP-/-mice (t =15.29,16.02,13.77,14.34,12.40,all at P＜0.05) and WT mice (t =17.65,14.91,15.97,13.41,12.53,all at P ＜0.05).GFAP was expressed in the control eyes both of the AQP4-/-mice and the WT mice.The expressing level of GFAP (GFAP/β-actin) in retinas was 1.00±0.00,1.99±0.29,4.05±0.69,4.47±0.48,3.21±0.35 and 3.25±0.53 in the control eyes and 1-,3-,7-,14-,28-day model eyes of WT mice; and those in the AQP4-/-mice were 1.00±0.00,1.69±0.31,2.27 ±0.55,2.79 ± 0.39,1.93 ± 0.31 and 1.54 ± 0.40,with a significant difference in the expressing level of GFAP in various time points (F =9.54,P＜0.05).In addition,significant gradually elevation of GFAP expression were seen in the WT mice and gradually decline of GFAP expression was found in the AQP4-/-mice with the lapse of time (all at P＜0.05).No significant difference was seen in the expression of GFAP in the control eyes between the WT mice and AQP4-/-mice (P＞0.05).However,the expression level of GFAP in retina was significantly higher in the WT mice than that of A QP4-/-mice 3,7,14 and 28 days after operation (t =4.51,7.95,6.12,5.76,all at P＜0.01).tonelusions In chronic high IOP mice,AQP4 gene plays an important role in retinal damage by upregulating the expression of GFAP in retina and promoting the activation of RGCs.AQP4 probably is a new target of treatment of glaucoma.

Objective To investigate epidemiological and clinical features of human ehrlichiosis.Methods The epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, therapeutic and prognostic data of 21 clinically diagnosed cases of human ehrlichiosis were retrospectively analyzed. Results The epidemic regions where the ticks' activity was high located at the boundary between Hubei and Henan Provinces. All cases were farmers. The median age was 50 years ranged from 19 to 69 years. The male female ratio evident history of tick bite 1 week before the onset. The common symptoms included fever, diarrhea,cough, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and expectoration. The complications included hemorrhage, toxic encephalopathy, acute renal insufficiency, secondary infection and respiratory failure. The common abnormalities of routine lab data were thrombocytopenia, hypoeosinophilia,elevated lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase and aminotransferases, leucopenia and proteinuria.Nine cases were tested with peripheral blood smear and intracytoplasmic inclusions in neutrophils were found in one case. Seventeen cases were tested with serological assay and antibodies against Ehrlichia were positive in five cases. After doxycycline, symptomatic and supportive treatments, 14 cases were recovered and seven died. The average age of the deaths was 56 years. Conclusions Human ehrlichiosis is an acute tick-borne zoonosis and multiorgan could be involved. The older cases prone to develop complications and the prognosis is poor.

Objective To compare the dosimetric data between preoperative plans and postoperative verification in computed tomography (CT)-guided and 3D-printing non-coplanar templateassisted 125I seed implantation for pelvic tumor,and to explore the feasibility and accuracy of the personalized template designmethod.Methods A total of 51 patients registered from Dec 2015 to Dec 2016 who were applied with 3D-printing guided template assisted radioactive seed implantations in the hospital were included in this study.A prescribed dose of 110-160 Gy was adopted.3D-printing templates were designed and produced for 51 cases.The dosimetric parameters:Dg0,minimum peripheral dose (mPD),V100,V150,V200,conformal index (CI),external index (EI),and homogeneity index (HI) were compared between pre-and post-plans.Results 51 cases' templates were in place well during the operations.Compared with the preoperative planning,the postoperative D90,V100,V150,V200,CI,EI and HI differences had no statistical difference (P ＞ 0.05);mPD is larger than before (t =-2.96,P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions The main dosimetric parameters of postoperative verification were consistent well with the preoperative planning and have good accuracy,which could meet the clinical requirements.

Objective To explore the safety and cosmetic effect of nipple-sparing modified radical mas tectomy and immediate tissue expander implantation with single circumaereolar incision.Methods 30 patients were enrolled in Peking Union Medical College Hospital between Jan.2014 and Dec.2015.All the patients were categorized according to surgical incision (single circumaereolar incision group vs double incisions group).Data on clinicopathological parameters,average hospital stay,complications and overall cosmetic effect were retrospectively collected.Data was performed with Chi-square test,Fisher exact test and t-test.Statistical significance was defined as P＜0.05.Results 19 patients were enrolled in single circumaereolar incision group,and 11 patients in double incisions group.There was no significant difference for operation duration (P=0.093) and average hospital stay (P=0.339).After follow-up for 19.1 months,ranging from 8 to 31 months,no patients developed seroma or arm lymphedema.There was no statistical significance between the two groups in terms of sensation in nippleaereolar area (P=0.973),bilateral symmetry (P=0.650) and overall cosmesis (P=0.483).Conclusion single circumaereolar incision nipple-sparing modified radical mastectomy and immediate tissue expander implantation can be one of the preferable surgical procedures with benefits of minimal invasiveness,reliable oncological safety and decent cosmetic effect.

Objective: To explore the association between the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) and clinicopathologic characteristics as well as prognosis in patients with axillary lymph node negative, hormone receptor (HR) positive breast cancer. Methods: The clinicopathologic data of 439 early breast cancer patients who underwent 21 gene RS testing was retrospectively analyzed. According to the 21 gene RS, the patients were divided into low risk (295 cases), intermediate risk (111 cases) and high-risk (33 cases) group. The relationship between the 21 gene RS and clinicopathological characteristics, treatment, recurrence and metastasis was analyzed. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to analyze the risk factors for relapse free survival (RFS). Results: Tumor grade, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and Ki-67 index were significantly different among the 3 risk cohorts (P<0.001 for all). After a median follow-up of 32 months, the recurrence rate in low risk group (3.7%) was significantly lower than that in the intermediate-high risk group (9.0%), the locoregional recurrence (LRR) rate of low, intermediate and high risk group was 2.4%, 6.3% and 9.1%; and the distant metastasis (DM) rate in low risk group was 1.4% and 2.1% in the intermediate-high risk group. Univariate analysis showed RS, ER status and endocrine therapy were prognostic factors for RFS (P<0.05 for all). Multivariate analysis showed that RS was an independent significant predictor for RFS (P=0.04). Conclusions The 21-gene RS is related to tumor grade, ER, PR and Ki-67 index. RS is an independent risk factor for RFS in patients with hormone receptor positive early-stage breast cancer.

The aluminum stress in acidic soil areas of China is an important abiotic stress factor that hampers the normal growth and development of plants and seriously affects the agricultural yield. The forms of plant resistance to aluminum stress are complex and diverse, which include secretion of organic acids, increase of rhizosphere pH, secretion of mucus, cell wall fixation of Al³⁺, organic acid chelation of Al³⁺ in cell solute, and vacuolar area isolation. Most of studies focus on analyzing conventional physiological characteristics, but in-depth molecular biological analyses are lacking. This review summarizes the mechanisms how plants adapt to acidic aluminum stress. This includes the effect of acid aluminum stress on plant growth and physiological metabolism, the two main physiological mechanisms of plant adaptation to acid aluminum stress (aluminum exclusion mechanism, aluminum tolerance mechanism), and the aluminum resistance related genes. Finally, this paper puts forward some prospects for further revealing the mechanism of plant adaptation to acid aluminum stress and excavating high-quality crops suitable for cultivation in acidic soils.
Acids ; Adaptation, Physiological ; Aluminum ; Crops, Agricultural/genetics* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plant Roots ; Soil/chemistry*